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Event Detail

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

A Nation of Gamblers: Real Estate Speculation and American History

Ed Glaeser presents a short history of housing booms and busts in America, drawing from his most recent research paper (see: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/pdfs/centers-programs/centers/taubman/working_papers/Glaeser_Ely.pdf).
The great housing convulsion that buffeted America between
2000 and 2010 has historical precedents, from the frontier land
boom of the 1790s to the skyscraper craze of the 1920s. This
lecture compares and contrasts land booms in the United
States, starting in the 18th century and ending in the present. The
recurring error across history is not that buyers are irrational,
but instead are making their purchasing decisions based on too
little information. Additionally, the primary cost of these booms
has been financial chaos that accompanies housing downturns.